Now that you mention it there are lots of toads in my gardens as well as a tiny butterfly about 1/2" across yellow this dark pink markings that stopped in on the milkweed. I'm glad I stopped to look.

Let's see....

Good Things: Plants are growing like crazy since we started geting rain, Mr. Hummingbird that comes to visit several times a day, tons of frogs and lizards everywhere as well as butterflies and dragon flies

Bad Things: Lost tons of mulch recently that got washed away with the super-heavy rains, weeds also growing like crazy, snakes

Good things: With the rain, sun, and heat, the garden is growing right in front of our eyes.

Bad things: We've got the Lubbers as well. The weeds are growing at the same pace as the rest of the plants.

Thank God the dragonflies have arrived. They are lean, mean, mosquito eating machines!
The only bad thing is the rain making the grass grow but that's not my Dept!!!!

The rain is the best thing to happen to our gardens in a long time! Everything is growing like crazy, especially the weeds(G). I love not having to drag hoses.

The worst thing is the heat. Whew! It makes digging holes, mulching, mowing, and weeding a misery.

It is so nice to see GREEN everywhere I look in our neighborhood. The plants are so happy!

Lisa

Good things: everything looks great, things are blooming and I have a lot of butterflies

Bad things: wasps going after my caterpillars and could use some more rain.

Lots of lush green everywhere.Flowers blooming.Pond up and refreshing.Must work in Am and Pm to avoid heat.Bats are helpful in mosquito population but not good enough. My dill is covered with chrysalids of BST and making their entrance in the world daily.
JAPANESE BEETLES OH NO!!!!!!!!!

Japanese beetles, you're right, OH NO!
I didn't think they would live in Florida.

Mosquitos from hell here. Really...really...bad! And the weeds are racing with the little patch of grass I have to see which can grow fastest.

Rain! It's nice and cool in the evening and morning, and everything in my garden is either fruiting or blooming. Some things, like the key lime, are doing both.

Good things: rain, HUMMINGBIRDS!, everything is blooming so there's lots of color, dragonflies, butterflies, the lemon tree is full of fruit - biggest crop ever, coleus thriving, scent of the gingers blooming, several buds on the orchids, the lovely seeds I just received from Cindee (Thanks!).

Bad things: heat and humidity limit how long I can be outside, I saw (and killed) a couple tiny green grasshoppers - is this the start of the lubbers????, the coral vine is looking kind of wimpy but I'm not sure why, it's too hot to work on my paver project.

Good: Rain is making my orchids grow quite lush. Bad: Ditto for weeds. Good: I have Coral Tree seedings bursting out of pots. Bad: Lubbers! Good: Daylilies about to bloom. Bad: Freaking Air Potato. Good: Boids-a-plenty. Bad: Wasps! (I'm allergic) Good: Ripening peppers. Bad: It's only July, everything still has to survive the blast furnace of August.

Good - Rain, finally. Bare patches of yard filling in (not with grass but with green stuff that can be mowed). Not many lubbers yet. Yard looks pretty lush. Hummingbirds for me too.

Bad - Not much, really. Something ate my lavender, violets, firespike and newly germinated salvia down to the dirt line. New house almost done. Yard is a completely blank slate but moving last week of July. Who wants to do anything in the yard in August? Bleh.

Good: Yep, some decent rain in the last couple days, hopefully we are back on track for the Summer. Using the hose every other day was getting to be a ... drag . . . :)

Bad: Snails, lubbers, mold/mildew, ants, mosquitoes, sandspurs, etc.

Good - SO FAR I've seen no lubbers, every seed planted has exploded from the soil. Bad - I fear the portulaca seedlings were fried at birth by the heat. Good - finally, some rain. Bad - rain means mowing the lawn at least once a week. Good - the puppy fence is working. Bad - she's wearing a path in the grass along the fence line. Good - despite her rowdy behavior and lizard fixation, she's my constant companion and you can't beat that. cora

Good: The lotus blossom that just opened as big as a dinner plate. Blooms about to open on the ginger that has never bloomed for me. The 10 long blooms on my Heliconia Rostrata. The new pool we just installed is being filled today (I can jump in to cool off while I'm gardening). The new bromeliad garden I'm putting in. My orchids looking better than they have in a long time, several in bloom or about to bloom. The almost ripe bananas on the plant I got at the swap two years ago. The new golden calla lilies have just gotten their first bloom. Everything is growing beautifully.

The bad: not much really, except the three wasp stings I got from the wasp that flew up my shirt, finding out I am allergic, two trips to the doctor (so far), and I start shots this week. My allergist recommends I stay indoors, yeah, like that's going to happen!

Good things: my plumerias are blooming and blooming; my bleeding heart vine is full and lush; cape honeysuckle is gorgeous and so is my Florida 'faux' gardenia - tons of blooms;

Bad things: weeds are taking over and I have had no time in the garden due to work stuff; lubbers - what the heck? they are freakin' everywhere!; still - not enough rain in st. pete!; my roses are droopy;

Amendment to that list...
Bad thing...that rain storm knocked my orchid tree over.

fun thread :)
Some bad things: lubbers, still around...and I am still scared of them. Snails attacking my orchids :/

Lots of good things in the garden though: a whole lot of blooms!

and rain!

Olya

Olya, I've heard that eggshells wil;l keep away slugs. Try it, it might work.

Good things in the garden- Lots of Rain everything is looking lush and beautiful in the garden!!

Bad things lots of mosquitos and snails(trying to erradicate my angle trumpets) and wasps (got stung by wasp twice this week) mosquitos are everywhere I am using dunks in the pond, bought a outdoor fogger and just purchased a zapper hope they work because the mosquitoes are crazy down here!
will try the egg shells for the snail rosarama

Good:
getting a daylily from the guy in New York who was searching for a coconut (I hope it grows for him!) plus my pineapples are glowing with that golden color of almost-ripeness.

Bad:
rain all over the Everglades, but it won't come over the bridge to this island

Some of the good:
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cdbinfl, lovely pictures! Frog is adorable - cannot have enough of those in the garden...
Is the lotus Nelumbo lutea, the North American Lotus? Or is it a hybrid? It is beautiful

Thanks for the info on snails...Just crush egg shells and through them around the plants?

Thanks!
Olya

Olya, yes. They don't like th sharp shells, it hurts their slimy, tender little tummies.

Olya,
I'm not sure what the lotus is, the previous owner of our home left it for me, it was too big for her to move. It is beautiful, this is the second bloom I have gotten.

Cherie

OK I'll play.

GOOD: The pond looks great, good enough to swim in (almost). Roses and gardenia are perfuming up the whole garden. Many plants are surviving this drought. The pool is finally getting worked on. Your pictures are great!

BAD: The pool is in ruins now. My lanai and pool look absolutely horrible. It is depressing. My orchids are stuck in every possible spot I could find in the yard and most are not getting the sun and attention they are accustomed to. Very little rain here.

Olya, is that an Epicattleya El Hatillo? I got one from Lowe's, but some of it got cut off by a lawnmower (I posted about it in the orchids forum). What's your orchid growing situation like? The blooms in your picture are just to die for.

Good: RAIN, Indian Blanket Flower, Zinnias both large and small,Tomatos, okra, malabar spinach, verbena, lavender, and other herbs.
Bad: WEEDS, lack of time and whatever is devouring my parsley.

yukichan, thank you :)
It is indeed Epicattleya El Hatillo - bought it a few years ago at Lowes or HD as a bagged seedling. This plant needed way too much light to bloom...

What is my orchid growing situation like...well, orchids are "the main crop" in my yard (main obsession, that is) All outside, with no greenhouse. A variety of species, under the oak, under the grapefruit tree and all over the yard. A lot of my orchids came from bagged seedlings...

If you are asking about this particular orchid..It is in a plastic pot with lots of holes, rocks on the bottom, and the rest - sphagnum moss. I have not repotted in a while, so it is just a mass of roots, and not much moss in comparison :)

Olya

Thanks Olya. My Epicatt was also an HD bag baby. Orchids are what sparked my interest in gardening too. Your set-up sounds just like mine, all under trees. My collection has grown a lot this year, so I'm wondering what will happen when it gets cold. I might have a 3' tall dendrobium in my kitchen!